Are marketing blogs positive or negative?

Kevin Hillstrom has a keen analysis on the MineTheData blog today. I picked it up from a post on JaffeJuice. Bless those feed readers :) Kevin digs into The Viral Garden's top 25 Marketing Blogs by creating 9 categories to analyze. He's trying to find out whether his hypothesis - that top marketing bloggers are negative toward brands - is true or false. Not to spoil the fun - you need to read, it's good - he concludes his assumption is false. He does discover some key differences around brands between the 1-10 group and the 11-25 group.

What grabbed me about his analysis is the recognition of "perception" at the very start. We all live with biases and perceptions. When we recognize them, it takes effort on our part to make sense of them. In addition, he uses a tool that is often overlooked in this age of technology - paper and red marker. He clearly spent some time with the exercise. It reminds me of a statement often made about the press - specifically newspapers. Some people say "They're too liberal". Some say "They're too conservative". Ever notice how its always "they'? It gets loud and rowdy along the spectrum at times. It swings back and forth. In 2000, I got tired of hearing it and decided to "analyze" the columns we ran in our paper. Can you guess? Almost 50-50 - a slight tilt toward conservative. Good enough for me to consider it balanced.

Kevin's 9 categories of posts can generally be used to analyze the blogs I read for positive/negative comparison. I had never thought of looking at them through that lens. But it does beg the question: In addition to links from other blogs and staying power (longevity) - what drives the really good ones to to the top 25, 50 or 100?

And this is totally subjective but I'd classify Kevin's post as a positive comment on the marketing blogosphere :)

2007 MLB - Order of Finish predictions

Any baseball fans in the crowd? Here's a post just a little out of my normal routine. I'll be able to quickly tell if you like it...I can think about, talk about, and write about baseball for a very long time :). Sadly, my favorite thing to talk about is umpiring and most people find it extremely boring. I spent 20 years calling balls and strikes for HS and College baseball. It is the love of the game that calls me each Spring. Fortune smiled on me when the WCC called a couple years ago and wanted somebody to observe umpires. I'd been away from the game since 2000 (the kids got too fast and my eyesight got too fuzzy - it happens at 50 :). Figured observing would be right down my alley since umpiring consists of reacting to situations - and making shade. But that's for another time (note to self: Marketing Lessons Learned between the base lines).

We're only a few days away from the first pitch on Opening Day 2007. I like to say Earth's axis finally tilts back to normal. This has nothing to do with umpiring. Fact is, wagering on the game is expressly forbidden in the Code of Ethics. But here's my predictions - order of finish - in each division. I have nothing invested in this but the time it takes to create it - nor do I have any knowledge beyond following the game. Its a fun exercise at the start of the season. About as predictable as the weather :) Play along - I'll devise some sort of numbering system and whoever has the most points at season's end wins the Championship of the Blog World. By then I will have figured out some sort of impressive graphic to place on your blog.

AL West
Oakland Athletics - toss up with the Angels - still playing Moneyball
Los Angeles Angels - Oakland plays too sound :)
Seattle Mariners - better than the cellar - there "home" 3 years in a row
Texas Rangers - no pitching.....still?!?!?!

AL Central
Minnesota Twins - gotta love 'em - Mauer, Morneau - MONSTERS
Cleveland Indians - could be close
Chicago White Sox - not even close to the team that won the Series
Detroit Tigers - coolest uniforms in the big leagues
Kansas City Royal - last place? yep, but the Best steaks in the World :)

AL East
New York Yankees - I can't cheer for them but A-Rod finally earns it
Boston Red Sox - wild card for sure - could play better than Yanks
Baltimore Orioles - Tejada is the real deal!
Toronto Blue Jays - not enough offense
Tampa Bay Devil Rays - ever seen a real devil ray? maybe they could hit better!

NL West
Arizona Diamondbacks - Big Unit is back!
San Francisco Giants - Bonds breaking Aaron's HR record not quite enough
Los Angeles Dodgers - could surprise
San Diego Padres - even with Maddux and Wells they won't win
Colorado Rockies - best pot bellied mascot in the game - sadly, that's it!

NL Central
Chicago Cubs - probably break your heart again but Soriano is that good!
St. Louis Cardinals - Pujols = Awesome! Edmonds & Rolen = Old!
Milwaukee Brewers - distant 3rd unless Ben Sheets is stellar
Houston Astros - cursed by Enron
Cincinnati Reds - even if Junior is happy - and he's not...
Pittsburgh Pirates - love their logo but never enough booty...aaarrrggghhhh!

NL East
New York Mets - can NY stand the prosperity? I say "yes"
Philadelphia Phillies - might almost have it this year
Atlanta Braves - glory days are done
Florida Marlins - whats with all these fish in Florida?
Washington Senators - even with Dems in the majority it will be a few years


There you have it :) - For entertainment purposes only. If I'm close to right, its pure dumb luck! Post your predictions in comments or send me an email.

Not Quite Dead Yet

One of my favorite Monty Python taglines.

I've had a couple conversations about media and newspapers with Lewis and Cord. We haven't gone into great detail. They gave me the chance to comment on great posts. Which is a chance to share thoughts and feelings. A-a-a-h - conversation and communication. I love it!

Just as I love whats called traditional media. Point of fact it pays the bills - its in my blood. Its been a tough battle with no end in sight. Competition for readers - and ad dollars - is fierce which is why I'm thrilled to have one at a time on this blog. Lets think for a minute how the media impacts us. Did you look or listen to any news today? Its rhetorical, so of course you did - in any number of ways - print, video, radio, digital. We all desire to carry on some sort of conversation on current events and topics of interest in our community. How long does new (emerging) media stay "new"?

Today the Center for Media Research sends a email message titled:

Death Of Newspapers Belied By Facts, Says WAN.

"According to new and revised data from the World Association of Newspapers, newspaper circulation is growing and new newspapers are being launched at a remarkable rate."

Read the entire report here.

MicroPersuasion weighs in with some stats on magazine advertising sales.

And LG posts an outstanding reason why some newspapers stumble. (I think he still loves the feel of print on paper :) - Some papers regain their stride, some don't. Local news sells the local paper. We can get world news from the vast expanse I'm typing into right now - the machine!

We're not quite dead yet. If you stopped subscribing to your local newspaper, did you have a reason? Take another look and see what you think. Let me know.

*technical question for anybody - for some reason the when I insert the typepad trackback url a message is returned "pings and trackback function must consist of HTTP" - so I've linked to the page url. Is this a problem on my end? (no wisecracks now)

Weighing In - What IS news?

When celebrities die, folks eat it up. Couple a celebrity with va-va-voom figure and a tragic life...its all over. Inundation in the media. Lewis Green rocked my Friday world today with this post. I was easing on into the weekend and he asks all these hard questions :) - I'm kidding, of course. Love hard questions. CK has a post here and a different question. Cam Beck weighs in with a comment at both spots. Keen insight!

My intrigue centers around newspapers and how it played in them. In casual chat around here yesterday it was foremost in everybody's mind. Would that people were as conversational about global warming, cures for cancer, or any other number of topics. I was rather dreading how it would play in this morning's paper. More specifically, I distinctly remember thinking "It's not front page news!" - but it is news. I'm not an editor. It ran on page 3 - right next to Scooter Libby trial.

Here's the recap from Newseum. If you don't want to link, it says of the 509 newspapers they track it was on the front page world wide. My unscientific glance found a handful with no mention on page one - but for arguments sake we'll go with the Newseum observation. So what's that say about us as readers? About newspapers? Does it matter? And don't hold back...I take nothing personally (or at least make a valid attempt).

I believe we are what we read. And we read what we are.

Hunka Hunka Burnin' Ads

Like Char at Essential Keystrokes I watch the Super Bowl for the ads! Its for darn sure the game is anti-climactic. Ever since Joe Namath predicted the Jets would beat Johnny U and the Colts its been a non-sports event for me. And I'm a little compulsive about the ads - blogging anyone? - I write 'em down with a general first impression. No need to leave just yet - I won't be giving comments on each of them :). I will tell you the link to all of this year's commercials is at the bottom of this post. They have them listed by quarters - but they are decidedly NOT in the order that I saw them. Maybe they aren't intended to be...told you I was a little obsessive. But I think the sequence of the ads gives them greater weight. There were 71 ads by my count (that's without the CBS promos of there own shows - next year I count those). It includes the post game ads. Cars come out on top with 17 individual ads. Beverage (soda/beer) is next with 15. Food follows with 9 unique advertisers. Online business ties food but only because 2 outfits played the same ad twice. Now THAT is a lack of creativity - or a mocking of the viewer - I haven't yet decided.

All day long I've heard how bad they were this year. Super Bowl 2007 was not the strongest line up of ads but time usually plays a part in great commercials. I'm glad slapstick is making a comeback. Can anybody name a year that was clearly better than any other? Where's the beef? Here are my highlights - excuse the ties:

Best Use of Music - tie - Chevy's People who Love cars Love Chevy's and Honda's CR-V with Elvis. Great music overlaying excellent graphics!

Oddest juxtaposition of 3 ads - Sprints connectile dysfunction sandwiched between Coke (and its bottles) tribute to Black History and Frito-Lays "What getting here represents". Poor production choice and don't tell me the producers don't have a choice. If I was Coke, Sprint or Frito-Lay I'd be flat upset.

Oddest juxtaposition of 2 ads - eTrades "things you can do with one finger" following a Flomax ad.

Most puzzling ad or what do they do? - Garvin.com - GPS?, MP3?, make paper dinosaurs?

Most graphically appealing - Coke's Rube Goldberg cartoon and Fords EDGE

ASPCA potential protest - Blockbuster's mouse - poor mouse

Best punchline - Whats the ax for? Its a bottle opener.

Here's all of them.

Added 2.08.2007 - a history of Super Bowl ads by the numbers from Media Research

It ain't Rocket Science - or is it?

I love this - today I didn't have to sign into my Blogger account. It seems Google figured out a way to recognize my initial sign in - for gmail - and apply it to all tendrils of Google that reach to my being. Probably just another form of cookie but I love cookies.

But thats not the why for this post - its here. Granted it's just shy of a month old - and we know how quickly things become stale in todays brave new world. Yet it is chock full of timely info. If charts and graphs are your flavor then this is the spot.

If you prefer the research highlights - click here. This brief rings my bell in light of reading "Citizen Marketers" and MarketingProfs book club extraordinaire. This brief from the Center for Media Research speaks directly to the importance of engaging the customer (item#5) in whatever we do. We all KNOW this and we all TRY to do this. We want happy customers. The question is HOW?

Here is an irony that just struck me. In many stories throughout the book a customer marketing crusade begins with the customer being upset, ticked off, or down right disappointed. None of us want that and yet it seems a common indicator for a crusade. Coke and Surge, Moleskin, Starbucks, Apple and iPod batteries - the authors document and interview individuals and groups who for one reason or another went to the edge and took a leap.

And - the customer does it for nothing but for the fact that they can. The voice of the people - sometimes the one person - makes a difference time and time again. Corporate culture is not easy to infiltrate yet we see a well researched book show example after example.

When the customer speaks, we gotta learn to listen. And do the research!